Lark
Lark, was a telemancer in service to the powerful demon Zarozhar. He had been secretly acting in the interests of Zarozhar and his cult for many years, learning from many other masters along the way. He died shortly after Zarozhar and the battle against the God King. __TOC__ Appearance and Personality Lark is not a remarkable man to look at. He is of middling height, lean of build and fair of hair; short and thin blonde hair streaked with many strands of grey. His features are sharp yet rough, being marred with countless scars, pock marks and age lines that ultimately give him an unsightly face. Perhaps his most striking features are his eyes, a blue so pale that it is almost white. Tattoos and scars also line his entire body, something he uses illusions to hide. He can usually be found in simple black leathers and a small red cloak. Lark wears an almost constant look of weariness on his face, only briefly broken by bitter scowls and wide knowing grins. His personality is erratic. Sometimes he will be easy-going and sarcastic, other times he will be humourless and bleak, switching between extremes constantly. He is unable to control this when he is under great stress. Biography Early Life Born as Lance von Loche to two Allenstein nobles, Lark wanted for little and hungered for less, as he was given plenty due to his gentle birth. He was very much treasured by his parents, Lamonte and Doreah, who had suffered from many miscarriages before he was sired. They were able to bear three siblings after him. Lark was small child, quiet, and often subject to night terrors. He did not speak his first words until he was 4 years old. He was a very bookish boy, too bookish for his father's tastes. He attempted to instill more man-like hobbies into him like swordplay and hunting, which the boy took to reluctantly and with little enjoyment. He was never particularly skilled at either. A few years later, some terrible accident befell their household which resulted in the manor being reduced to ash and the deaths of the entire family including their staff. No one knows the exact cause of the tragedy, only that it ended Haus von Loche. Lance was thought to have died in the fire with his family. Lark the Seer A young telemancer would wander the earth. He went by many names then, but Lark was amongst his most favoured. The similarity to his old name, and the irony of its meaning was both comforting and amusing. He would go on to travel to many places and see many things under this persona, re-emerging back in Central (then Adistone) after the destruction of the castle-town by King Conwyn the Mad. He would work with the advisor Mzlplyts in a bid to combat the rogue spirit Ulkazur with his friend and fellow cultist Gnut. This eventually lead to Lark encountering the Council of Renown, powerful demon Mancers who wished to see Ulkazur destroyed. Lark was able to prentice under the Beast, an arch-telemancer and member of the Council, who had ambitions of planting the telemancy spirit Dolkos in a living vessel after its capture from the Black Knights. Lark had no intention of adhering to the Beast's ambitions, and despised the Council of Renown as a whole. He planned to dismantle it by fueling the already present bitterness between their members. He attempted this by fostering a conflict between the terramancer Alran and the carnomancer Vigor, freeing Vigor's 'puppets' to turn them against him as well. This plan ultimately failed, but proved inconsequential as Vigor's subsequent death at the hands of a centrallian guard caused the members to drift apart even further. The Shadows Lark focused on trying to foster a new chapter of the Cult of Zarozhar with the Hector Young of the Shadow Riders until the Realm Split sent literal shadows into Trepheon. He helped in the reforging of the Genie's Lamp and fought at the battle in the East against the shadow creatures. When Lord revealed himself thereafter, and mastered the great Shadow Wyvern, Lark took it upon himself to further investigate the creature's biology and psychology in an attempt to find another weakness in the shadows to exploit. It was during this time that Lark was also able to study under the Golden Mask, another powerful demon arch-telemancer who allied with the Bureau of Magic to fight Lord. After the crisis with Lord was averted, Lark had still not found anything substantial from his experiments on the shadows. He decided to devote more and more effort, despite the Bureau of Magic slowly becoming emptier and the Golden Mask going back into hiding. This proved to be a waste of time. He gained nothing but a sickness from exposure to the shadows which slowly took over his lungs. Zarozhar Lark was weak and dying. He had gone to plea to the necromancer Ember thinking that she might be able to extend his life regardless of the disease. When that wouldn't work, he considered giving his body up as a cadaver for further study. These thoughts were soon interupted as Zarozhar's tome had resurfaced after so long, and due to his diligent sacrificing, he was actually able to take shape. Lark marched to the forest fully expecting it to be his last day alive, only wishing to look upon the form of the creature he had been serving for so long. After nearly perishing in a rune explosion caused by the terramancer Alran, Zarozhar leant down and healed Lark, even curing him of his sickness and making his body stronger and younger. He was able to achieve archmancy thanks to this newly bestowed strength. After consorting with the demon terramancer Callendro, one of the former members of the Council of Renown, and retrieving the tome thanks to the then drow necromancer Lazarus, Zarozhar was able to be fully freed, and now walks Azura. The Cult Reborn A resurgance of cult activity has come in the face of Zarozhar's awakening, with Lark at its head as his High Priest. This has not been taken with grace by the three kingdoms, the Church being barred from all their lands under threat of summary execution, forcing Lark to act from the shadows. He would lure many into the Cult through promises of power through sacrifice, and try to convince others by touting their ideals for a better world. They were not lies, but they were not wholly true; powers given were often fickle and the ambitions of the cult were not quick to come about. The Church of Zarozhar had taken up residence in the desert, many members having gathered there to plan for organization-wide action. During the meeting, Centrallian forces lead by Hajolat scouts moved to attack the ruins they were inhabiting. They killed very few, though Hector Young was perished in the confusion, something that affected Lark greatly. It was then, after seeing the useless carnage that had befallen the Church, that a more direct course was decided. The Northern Battle Zarozhar revealed some truths of his goal to rulers of Trepheon, to defeat the God King and free the Gods. The West and East mounted forces to march on the North, Zarozhar himself taking aspect in the Eastern Shogun and Lark keeping eyes on the Western King. Their forces eventually met on the foot of the Northern Stronghold, where they laid out their assault. After a long fought battle, the consequences of their acts were soon revealed. Zarozhar gripped the scythe, and in a moment which only Lark knew would come to pass, destroyed himself and all of the spirits. Abilities Lark has been known to project his consciousness into birds such as crows and pigeons to spy on places from long distances, as well as gain dominion over large desert monstrosities to do his bidding. He will typically cause his enemies to grovel in some form of pain or suffer from telemantically induced blindness, deafness or numbness. He teleports often, as is typical of a telemancer. He is somewhat skilled with his hands and his knife, though not remarkably so. Death After the battle against the God King and the subsequent death of the spirits, the mysterious illness that Zarozhar had cured with chronomancy overtook Lark's body. His body aged forward and weakened in mere moments, falling dead where he stood outside the Northern Stronghold.